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Mary Jo Pitzl covers politics and the state Legislature. As an avid composter, she knows how good things can come from what looks like garbage. maryjo.pitzl@arizonarepublic.com

Alia Beard Rau covers bills and the state Legislature. Juggling strong personalities is nothing new to this nearly Tempe native, who has a preschooler, a chef husband and a needy black lab at home. alia.rau@arizonarepublic.com

Mary K. Reinhart covers state agencies and the state Legislature, with a focus on CPS. Her hobbies include running and policy wonkery, which help her unwind and win debates at home with her husband and three kids. maryk.reinhart@arizonarepublic.com

Michelle Ye Hee Lee covers Maricopa County government and Maricopa Integrated Health System. She is from Guam, and won't be offended if you ask her where it is or if its citizens' votes count (they don't, in federal elections). michelle.lee@arizonarepublic.com

Lindsey Collom covers Pinal County government. A triathlete and singer in a band, she’s into extremes - which makes politics a perfect fit..lindsey.collom@arizonarepublic.com

The legislative session tends to offer some perennial topics: abortion, guns and doing away with merit selection for judges.

But with the lopsided defeat of Proposition 115, which was a step toward nixing merit selection, the chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court is hoping lawmakers might give the topic a rest in 2013.

Justice Rebecca Berch noted that Prop. 115 got a drubbing at the polls last month. And that might signal to lawmakers that voters are fine with the current system of having judges in Maricopa and Pima counties appointed by the governor after a thorough vetting by a judicial commission, she said.

"I'd be surprised if we see changes right away," Berch said when asked if she expects the topic to resurface.

Prop. 115 failed with 72.3 percent of the voters rejecting it.

White, while speaking at the canvass of the 2012 election results, also urged voters to carefully consider judges' records when the judges come up for a retention vote. This cycle, her colleague, associate justice John Pelander, was targeted by some conservative activists unhappy with the Supreme Court's ruling on a ballot measure.

"I do want to discourage the practice of reading a blog and making a decision," Berch said.

Voters apparently were thinking the same way. Pelander was retained with 74 percent of the vote, despite efforts to oust him.

One of the biggest reasons it took two weeks to count the votes in last month's election was the number of people who got an early ballot but didn't turn it in until election day.

But don't blame the folks -- or at least most of them -- who have to certify the election results.

As state officials were canvassing election results Monday, only one of the four said they held on to their early ballot until Nov. 6.

Jim Drake, serving temporarily as acting secretary of state, said he got an early ballot but didn't turn it in until Election Day, when he walked it into a polling place. He'll never do that again, Drake said, noting the two weeks it took to count the "late early" ballots.

As for the rest, acting governor Ken Bennett said he votes early by mail. Ditto for state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca White Berch , who was on hand as the law requires to witness the signing of the canvass that certified the results of the ballot propositions.

Attorney General Tom Horne, who by law must affirm the canvass of candidate elections, said he always votes at the polls on election day.

And even though she was not present, Gov. Jan Brewer is an early voter, doing a photo op last month as she cast her early ballot.

Secretary of State Ken Bennett said Tuesday he will meet with Arizona's 15 county elections officials to work on improvements to the state's election system, from registration to ballot counting.

In a news conference, he emphasized he's not proposing to scrap the state's existing system. In fact, he said, the system is working pretty darn well, noting that the counting should wrap up today -- one day ahead of 2008's 15 days. That is despite, he said, dealing with a big increase in the number of early ballots that came in on Election Day, as well as an increase in provisional ballots. Those two categories of ballots required more processing time, thus delaying a final tally, he said.

To cut down on that delay, Bennett said counties might want to look at establishing voting centers, something authorized in a 2011 law that he proposed.

Voting centers have an entire county's voter-registration list, making it easier to match up the signature on a sealed "early ballot" dropped off on Election Day with the signature on the voter roll. That doesn't happen at individual polling places, which have only the list of voters registered within the precinct(s) served by that poll location, he said.

Provisional ballots, which increased by about 20,000 from 2008's presidential election, also slow the process because the voter's identity needs to be verified with the registration roll. But so far, Bennett said, 81 percent of the estimated 171,000 provisional ballots cast statewide have been counted, up from 70 percent in 2008. That, he said, is a "success sign."

For the last two weeks, a group of protesters has camped outside Maricopa County elections offices, demanding that all the votes be counted. They are concerned that the provisional ballots required of many first-time voters might be ignored.

While speed is not the overriding concern -- accuracy and voter access is, he said -- Bennett added that changes could speed up the counting. That could spare Arizona the glare of a national spotlight for being slow to finish its tally.

Imagine, he said, if the presidential race had been close in Arizona, with its 11 electoral votes hanging in the balance while elections officials spent two weeks tabulating ballots. That's publicity the state doesn't need.

Any changes would likely take legislation and money -- two things Bennett said he thinks the Legislature would be willing to provide. After all, he said, the Legislature is 90 elected officials, and it's in their best interest to ensure accurate and prompt election results.

Senate President Steve Pierce showed up for the Senate Republicans' organizational meeting bearing a carrot cake, as well as hopes that his colleagues would re-elect him the Senate's leader for the next two years.

He left without the presidency and without the cake.

The winner was Sen. Andy Biggs, R-Gilbert, who was elected Senate president on a 9-8 vote over Pierce. Biggs also took the cake, literally and figuratively. Wednesday was his 54th birthday, and Pierce brought the cake for his colleague.

"When your own deputies association within your own agency does not have the faith and will not back you as their leader, that sends a pretty strong message about what’s going on in the Sheriff’s Office," Morgan told The Insider.

However, less than a quarter of the association's membership - which totals about 200 deputies, dispatchers and correctional officers - weighed in on the endorsement by secret ballot, according to PCDA president Scott Strobel.

The PCDA is the bargaining entity for PCSO rank-and-file and civilian employees. The Pinal County Sheriff's Office has about about 650 employees; roughly 220 of them are sworn peace officers.

Morgan won the nod with 22 votes, barely edging out Babeu, who received 16. Democratic challenger Kevin Taylor came in third with five votes. Two members voted for no one.

The vote was taken after the three candidates sparred in a debate sponsored by PCDA. The Law Enforcement Association of Pinal County, which has about 50 members, endorsed the Republican Babeu, as did the Pinal County Commanders Association.

Earlier this week, Babeu's campaign issued a media release announcing their support. In it, the sheriff characterized the two organizations as speaking on behalf of all PCSO employees.

"I'm humbled to earn the endorsement from the nearly 700 full time staff that I proudly lead in our Sheriff's Office, who work hard to keep our families safe," Babeu said in the release. "I will continue to give my full effort to continue to earn their trust and of the 400,000 residents we serve in America's fastest growing county."

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